La femme accroupie, around 1882

CommentaryWith her extreme pose, 'The Crouching' belongs to Rodin's boldest figures. A woman crouching on the ground presses her upper body between her outspread legs and leans her head on her right knee. With her left arm she modestly covers her breasts, but she can only attempt vaguely at hiding from view her lap with her right forearm. In turning her head away, she then tries to avoid direct eye contact. Like many other sculptures, Rodin developed the motif of 'Crouching' for the 'Gates of Hell', a project he worked on intensively from 1880 to 1917. Rodin placed the figure almost hidden away in the upper part of the gate over the left pilaster under a volute – the viewer can only see it extremely obliquely from below. Taken from its original context and considerably increased in size, Rodin pushed the naked woman's clearly devote, unprotected pose even more in the foreground. The 'Crouching's expressive pose inspired Rodin to employ the motif in further sculpture groups while transforming their meaning.